Preference-valve.



J. W. GAMBLE.

PREPERENGE VALVE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 22, 1910.

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FZGJ- J. W. GAMBLE.

PREFERENCE VALVE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 22, 1910.

1,086,45Q Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

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1 If I i INVENTOR WITNESSES Q7 A TTORNEY N TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JUSEPH W. GAMBLE, OF PHILADELIFHIA, ZPENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH S.

LOVERING WHARTON, WILLIAM S. HALLOWELL, AND JGHN G. JONES, 0F PHILA- DELIPI-IIA, PENNSYLVANIA, DOING BUSINESS AS FIRM OF HARRISON SAFETY BOILER WORKS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PREFERENCE-VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 10,1914.

Application filed June 22, 1910. Serial No. 568,280.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osurrr l/V. GAMBLE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Preference-Valves, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part thereof.

My present invent-ion relates to valves of the kind in which. provisions are made for automatically closing the valve when the pressure at one side of the valve falls below a predetermined amount and for opening the valve to prevent the pressure rising above a certain amount.

One object of the present invention is to provide a valve, which I call a preference valve, and which is of the general kind specified above, but is particularly adapted for use in water heating systems in which the heating agent is the exhaust steam from steam engines, the valve being arranged to open to permit the excess of exhaust steam over that required by the heating system to escape to the atmosphere, though normally tending to .u aintain a pressure in the inlet side of the valve slightly, usually a few ounces, in excess of the atmospheric pressure.

More specifically my object is to provide a preference valve for the purpose specified, which is simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture and in which the frictional resistance to the operation 0:1? the valve is small, so that even with the very small pressure differences worked with, all liability of the valve sticking is avoided.

Another object of the invention is to so construct and arrange the valve that it will be noiseless in operation and while the valve may positively be held open, it is not within the power of a careless attendant to lock the valve in the closed position.

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention are pointed out in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, and the advantages possessed by it, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter, in which I have illustrated and described one form of apparatus embodying my invention.

or the drawings Figure l is an elevation of a portion of a heating system in which my valve is employed, Fig. 2 is a partial central sectional elevation of the valve mechanism proper, Fig. 3 is a partial sectional elevation on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a sectional. plan taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, and referring first to the heating system illustrated by Fig. 1, A represents the steam supply pipe. Through this pipe steam passes in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 1 from the exhaust of steam engines. B and B represent water heaters supplied with steam from the pipe A through the branch pipes A A. It will be understood that with one steam pipe A any suitable number of water heaters B and corresponding branch pipes A may be con nected, and that where more than one water heater B is employed and usually also if even only one water heater is employed means, as the valves D in the. casing C, should be provided to close communication when desirable between each water heater and the pipe A. The water heaters B may vary in form and in the use to which it is put. In the form illustrated in the drawings the water heaters B are of the well known type of open feed water heater in which exhaust steam is employed to heat water for boiler feed and like purposes, the water to be heated being admitted to the heater through a conduit E controlled by the valve E, the stem of which is connected to any suitable regulating mechanism, as to the arm E of a rock shaft E the latter having connected to it a float (not shown) located within the heater. F represents a vent pipe through which air may escape from the heater.

I have not thought it necessary to describe the construction of the heater in detail herein, for the invention does not depend on the specific construction of the heater. Moreover, the heater illustrated is one which has long been well known and in common use.

The valve mechanism H, to which the the center of the passageway through tne present invention pertains, is arranged in the pipe A beyond the branch pipes A. The purpose of this mechanism is to open and permit of the escape to the atmosphere of any excess of steam supplied to the pipe A over that required by the heaters A. As ordinfarily used the valve mechanism H should open wide whenever the pressure in the pipe A exceeds the pressure of the atmosphere by a few ounces, but should close partly or entirely to throttle the escape to the atmosphere of steam when the pressure below the valve tends to fall below the desired pressure.

As shown, the valve mechanism H comprises a casing shown as split vertically, and formed between its ends with a port H. Within the valve casing is pivotally mounted a valve or diaphragm member I which in the form shown is a disk formed with ears I on its upper side by which the valve member is pivotally mounted on the shaft J which passes through the valve casing and is journaled in bosses H carried by the valve casing.

K, K represent bushings or washers extending between the outer ends of the ears I and the adjacent sides of the valve casing, and L and L represent bearing sleeves between the shaft J and the casing and valve member respectively, the shaft being rotatable relative both to the valve casing and to the valve member.

To permit the valve member to be positively turned from the closed full line position of Fig. 4 into the dotted line position of that figure, an arm J, is secured to the shaft J between the ears I which may be rotated from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 to the position shown in dotted lines to move the valve member into the open dotted line position of Fig. 4:; means are provided to prevent the shaft J from being rotated clockwise beyond the full line position and in a counter clockwise direction beyond the dotted line position of Fig. 4. These means, in the construction illustrated comprise a pin J 2 secured to one end of the shaft J and working in the sector shaped slot N formed in the member N secured against the end of one of the bosses H J 3 represents an external handle by which the shaft J may be rotated from the full line position toward or into the dotted line position.

IVith the construction illustrated and described, it will be obvious that while the shaft J may be manipulated to hold the valve member open, it cannot be manipulated to hold the valve member I closed. In consequence, the valve member I is at all times either open or free to open.

It will be observed that the shaft J passes through the valve casing H at one side of valve casing. In consequence, the pivotal axis about which the valve member I turns is at one side of the center of application of the force exerted against the underside of the valve member by the fluid pressure in the inlet end of the valve casing. T his pressure therefore tends to turn the valve member from the position shown in full lines in Fig. at into, or toward, the dotted line position of that figure. The valve member I, however, is so constructed that its center of gravity is at the point Z below the axis of the shaft J when the valve member is in the full line position shown in Fig. 4, and consequently the action of gravity tends to hold the valve member in the position shown in Fig. A. To get the center of gravity of the valve member at one side of the center of area of the valve I preferably thicken the valve member at one side of the axis as indicated at I.

With the construction described, gravity tends to hold the valve member in the closed position. As the steam pressure on the underside of the valve member increases, the valve turns on its axis to permit more or less of the steam to escape through the ex haust head Gr. By suitably proportioning the weight of the valve member as a whole to the distance between the center of gravity and the axis of the shaft J and to the pressure which it is desired to maintain below the valve casing, the valve may be adapted to move from the fully closed position to the wide open position upon an increase of pressure on the inlet side of the valve of only a few ounces. A practically uniform pressure which may vary only, say, from atmospheric pressure to three or four ounces above the pressure of the atmosphere, may be maintained below the valve, therefore, during a wide variation in the amount of excess steam allowed to escape to the atmosphere. The valve thus serves to prevent any undue increase in pressure in the pipe A, and also to entirely prevent the escape of steam through the exhaust head G when all the steam supplied to the pipe A is required for the heaters B.

Provisions may be made for varying the resistance to the turning movement of the valve member A as by adjusting the total weight and also the location of the center of gravity of the valve member. For instance, as shown, the pockets I may be formed in the thickened position I of the valve member and these pockets may be filled with determined amounts of some heavy metal, as lead. An adjustable weight M may also be located on the member I, the latter being then formed with slots 1 through which pass clamping screws M As shown, by adjusting the amount of lead in the pockets I and by adjusting the position weight M, the effective weight of the valve member and its resistance to the turning movement thereof may be shifted laterally to some extent with respect to the point X, varying the amount of lead in the pockets P, or by shifting the position of member M. Ordinarily, however, no special adjusting provisions are necessary, as the valve can be initially designed to satisfactorily meet the usual conditions under which it is to operate.

Preferably, as shown, the periphery of the valve member I and the inner surface of port H are so shaped that clearance is provided to permit the valve member 1 to swing, either clockwise or counter clockwise, from the full line position shown in Fig. l. This permits the valve I to close noiselessly since in closing it does not strike against any stops. This, while a desirable feature under many circumstances, is, of course, not absolutely necessary and if desired, pro vision may be made for preventing the valve member from swinging in the clockwise direction beyond the full line position of Fig. 4.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A valve of the character described comprising a casing formed with a fluid passage and a valve member pivotally mounted in said passage and tending to swing under the action of gravity into the position in which it closes said passage, but free to swing in either direction from said position, the pivotal axis of the valve member being arranged at one side of the center of application of the force exerted on the valve member by the fluid pressure in the inlet side of the valve casing whereby the said pressure tends to open the valve.

2. A valve of the character described comprising a casing formed with a fluid passage, a shaft extending through said passage, a valve pivotally mounted on said shaft and tending to swing under the action of gravity into the position in which it closes said passage, said shaft being arranged at one side of the center of application of the force exerted on the valve member by the pressure of fluid admitted to said casing, whereby said pressure tends to open the valve member, an arm secured to said shaft within the passage and adapted to engage the valve member when the shaft is rotated, and provisions limiting the rotation of the shaft to prevent the valve member from being held in the closed position by said arm while permitting the shaft to be rotated so that the .arm engages the valve member and holds the latter in the open position.

3. A valve of the character described comprising a casing formed with a vertical fluid passage, a horizontal shaft extending through said passage at one side of the center thereof, a valve member provided with ears on its upper side pivotally mounted on said shaft and having its center of gravity so disposed that the valve member tends to swing under the action of gravity into a position in which it extends transversely to said passage and obstructs the latter, and provisions for adjusting the weight and the location of the center of gravity of said valve member.

4:. A valve of the character described comprising in combination a casing formed with a fluid passage, and a valve member pivotally mounted in said passage and including provisions tending to hold said valve member in the position in which it closes said passage, said. valve member being free to swing in either direction from said position, and having its pivotal axis arranged at one side of the center of application of the force exerted on the valve member by the fluid pressure at the inlet side of the valve casing, whereby the said pressure tends to open the valve.

JOSEPH GAMBLE.

lVitnesses ROBERT G. CLIFTON, J. E. Harms.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

